Post by jamesp on Apr 26, 2020 19:15:57 GMT -5
Can you post some of your 2 step obsidian ingawh ? By the way you are missed !
Knave - if it helps, here are the only two changes I make just for obsidian:
1) Proportionately more small agate/quartz media, and ONLY the best pieces, hand sorted to be sure there are no rough edges to scratch the obsidian. The photo that I guess you found shows the actual contents of one entire load, so you can see the proportion of media used, compared to obsidian.
2) I run the the load for 48 hours rather than the 24 used for a 7 mohs batch.
That's it really.
The biggest thing I had to learn was to completely give up on the instructions that came with the machine. The Lot-O is awesome, but I don't think it's inventors had actually mastered it yet.
Along with throwing out the instructions, I had to violate the rock-tumbler's 1st Commandment, "Thou shalt not mix mohs in the same batch." I never got the level of shine I was looking for until I started using the highly polished quartz/agate 7 mohs media. People's eyes popped out when I said I use 7 mohs stones as my filler-media with 5 mohs obsidian, but as long as you're willing to take the time to hand-sort and select only perfectly pre-polished pieces, there is no better polishing aid. NOTE: This means you need to use them with other 7 mohs loads first so that the media stones get highly polished before they can be used to polish the obsidian.
I know other people like ceramic media, but I see a difference, and never quite get the liquid shine I'm after on obsidian with the ceramics. So go to Petco (wear your mask! ) and pick up a bag of the large, round, aquarium gravel, composed largely of quartz, agate and jasper. Sort out the good stuff, and run that through from rough to polish with a 7 mohs batch before it can graduate to doing obsidian. I also strongly recommend against other buffers (like plastic pellets or denim strips or walnut shells, etc.). They make a horrible mess, get in the way of the polishing process, and really just indicate you haven't gotten the slurry consistency working right yet. It may take some practice to get the right balance of psyllium (Metamucil) to liquid soap and water, but once you get the feel for it, the process really works. I also tried lots of other thickeners, but hit the sweet-spot only with the Metamucil. The fact that it creates an ever-so-slightly doughy slurry helps it clean completely out of cracks and pits. If it does clean away easily, you likely used too much psyllium.
Sadly, I must get back to studying the Rules of Evidence, and Constitutional Law. This is much for fun, but I'm just procrastinating. Good night, good luck, and best wishes,
Inga
Experience usually evolves to simplicity and conciseness.
Your findings are similar to my findings ingawh.
I wish you well with your pursuit. I see a brilliant mind.